by Staff

Page's lecture, titled "Observing the Birth of the Universe," will cover a wide variety of methods used to study the contents and history of the universe. Page will discuss recent results from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite experiment, a collaboration between NASA and several institutions including Princeton.

Page and other members of the WMAP research team have used the satellite to examine the oldest light in the universe and gather evidence for what happened within its first trillionth of a second, when the universe underwent a massive growth spurt 13.7 billion years ago to drive the period of expansion known as the Big Bang.

Page's talk is the first of three scheduled for this year's President's Lecture Series. The others, also set for 4:30 p.m., are:

• "'Because It Was He, Because It Was I': Friendship and Its Place in Life" by Alexander Nehamas, the Edmund N. Carpenter II Class of 1943 Professor in the Humanities, on Tuesday, March 4, in 101 Friend.

The lecture series was started by President Shirley M. Tilghman in 2001 to bring together faculty members from different disciplines to learn about the work others are doing in a variety of fields. The talks will be webcast; viewing information will be available online.